<p>A lot of people advocate giving the old beater to the kid. But I have a problem with that. Mainly: the poorer driver (the teenager) is getting the car that is not as safe. It’s smaller, less likely to have a working air bag (much less side-curtain airbags), may have worn rotors or brake pads… in short, in a collision, it’s far less safe than the parents’ car(s). </p>
<p>And which driver is more likely to have an accident? The one in the less safe car.</p>
<p>I’ve been to too many teen funerals not to want the teenage driver in a big safe new car with good brakes and six airbags.</p>
<p>There are many cars with safety features that sell for less than $35,000. And you can get a slightly used car that is basically new. Once that new car is driven off the lot, it is used. We have bought cars with 3000 miles on them before at quite a discount.</p>
<p>I like buying dealer demos- they usually have just about 3000 miles on them, I know that they have been carefully broken in, if I have researched the dealer & I know that the little quirks that new cars can have , have been taken care of.</p>
<p>I have had three cars that have been demos, and they were virtually brand new, because it was still the model year when I bought them & they also had more amenities than others in my price range.</p>
<p>It is really a smart way to go- but not everyone cares about getting a good deal for their money.</p>
<p>dmd, I agree with you, there. I am certainly not not in the old beater category - in fact, the opposite - I researched the crash tests and real world accident, insurance and injury rates from the iihs.org and nhsta.com sites and read extensively about the characteristics of a car that is safest for a young driver ( ie most SUVs are more prone to rollovers by inexperienced drivers). Put it this way, I would not have gone with the IS250 for a teenager. I’d have picked something that was more substantial in weight and less of a sports car.</p>
<p>I agree I wouldn’t want to “go public” in a newspaper article over anything I owned / had. Better to fly under the radar, IMO.</p>
<p>I also think it’s safer. Acquaintances of ours had a threatened kidnapping; it was evident from the society section of the paper that they were extremely well-to-do.</p>
<p>I believe that younger drivers should (for the first two years) be restricted to driving only lighter and lower powered vehicles. I don’t care what they cost. It’s common sense and obviously there is a significant safety factor involved, both for themselves and the rest of us as well. Heck, they do it for pilots and boat captains.</p>
<p>An M5 is <em>ridiculously</em> overkill for a minor. THAT is a sportscar. It’s a souped-up version of the 5-series, and has an incredible quantity of horsepower. Very few people, let alone a kid, should have an M-anything unless they’ve got a proven driving record.</p>
<p>This earring thing has me thinking: I bought a gorgeous pair of CZ earrings the other day that look like estate earrings…small but older art deco setting with a small emerald cut stone in the middle and have been too self conscious to wear them in this economy. If kids are running around in the real thing maybe I should loosen up and wear them!</p>
<p>D1 stole my smaller ones after I upgraded. I have been looking to get another set for D2, but haven’t want to spend the money yet. Over time, I have been giving the girls some of my jewelry, luckily I have always been into classic looks, so they won’t need to re-set them.</p>
<p>Dke, I think you should wear your pretty earrings, feel good about it, and don’t worry about what others think. There’s nothing wrong with having nice things. I think negative perceptions come into play with the attitudes with which “some” (not all) wealthy people display. As someone posted earlier, more about how they display the wealth.</p>
<p>For example, if someone down the street from me bought a Lexus, would I even think twice about the car parked in their driveway? Not at all. But a Lexus for a 15 year old who doesn’t even drive yet with pictures of it in the paper is laughable to me. And yes they can buy their kid any kind of car they want and I have no angst about it, but I can laugh at it if I choose to.</p>
<p>The comment about paying for a somewhat lavish 16th birthday party made me chuckle, I have to admit. It made me think of the Sweet Sixteen over the top birthday parties shown on MTV. That’s laughable to me because these parties are so over the top where the crowning glory at the end of the party is to roll in the new luxury car for the birthday kid so that all in attendance can admire. I don’t envy, I just think it’s funny how some people choose to spend their money and how far some people feel the need to go for attention and to compete with other families.</p>
<p>There are good people in all income classes so it’s not that I have any disdain at all for wealthy people. It’s all in a persons actions. DD has close high school friends from wealthy families; these families have welcomed her into their magnificent homes with open arms and have treated her as one of their own; I will be forever grateful to several families for the kindness and generosity they have shared with my child. But there are some from wealthy families who also make the snide remarks, similar to what Aibarr experienced from the other direction. DD has experienced this as well from kids who are spoiled brats for lack of a better term.</p>
<p>aibarr and EK4… my 15-year-old son actually took his driving test in my M5 (at that point, 4 years old). The examiner had NEVER before had someone take their test in a stickshift, and in fact did not know how to drive a stick himself (shame on him). And not long after that, I sent him to drive it on the track at Portland International Raceway in their high performance driving course. </p>
<p>I sent both kids for serious lessons on the track. I know that the training they got there prevented at least two accidents. In my D’s case, she was on the freeway (aged 21) and saw an accident happening ahead of her; she steered into the hole (as she was taught at race school, using cones) and saw five cars collide. Her car had a small scrape on the fender. In my S’s case, I was in the car with him when he was driving his father’s lightweight sports car and it started to spin on wet leaves (floating on a deeper puddle… it was a mess). He calmly steered right out of the problem.</p>
<p>I agree that the parent who would go public with his kid’s extremely expensive gift is an idiot.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to visit the transportation research facility at Virginia Tech with a group of university people. It was so interesting to see the research they do there about accidents and the ability to simulate different environments on their track. It’s like a race track but they have the ability to make it rain, fog, different street conditions, different lighting. They pay students to walk out onto the track to judge reaction times…wouldn’t want my student to do that but hey, its for research.</p>
<p>Taking a track based driving school is a great way to learn to drive better on the street. Very cool DMD. I have driven at PIR many times and it’s a very safe facility and a great asset for the Portland area. Much safer track than our Seattle International.</p>
<p>Would you please adopt me…? (Incidentally, I’m just glad it was your M5 and not his!)</p>
<p>My brother took Audi’s track course and learned a ton. I’m desperate to spend a summer in Phoenix taking Bondurant courses someday. One of the alternatives to the IS300 that my dad offered was a Subaru WRX. I said, “Absolutely not.” My dad asked, “Why on earth would you turn that down?” I said, “Because I desperately want to learn to rally race, and do you really want to encourage that?” My dad said, “Oh,” and didn’t bring up the WRX again…</p>
<p>unfortunately the boys on the Florida strip, weren’t supervised.</p>
<p>I took my younger daughter and her friend ( when they were about 13-14) to the beach to practice driving- her friend was very careful, I am afraid my daughter went rather faster.</p>
<p>That was me, and I assure you, no one confused our backyard 16th birthday party with anything on MTV Sweet Sixteen. Though we did have one of those huge, inflatable backyard jumper-things. OMG, now THAT is a splurge worth every penny spent. The kids adored it! It was visible from the street – was that flaunting?</p>
<p>Though some of these big inflatables are more $$$, they’re definitely pretty cheap on a per-person basis. That log-rolling one is new and looks really cool…</p>